The Chargers won in Kansas City the last two seasons, but their winning streak at Arrowhead Stadium came to a halt on Thursday night.
After taking a 17-7 lead in the third quarter, the Chargers gave up 20 straight points to the Chiefs and Kansas City wound up 27-24 winners over their AFC West rivals. The Chargers punted four times and had an interception returned 99 yards for a touchdown during that 20-point run and they saw other chances to get a leg up on the Chiefs fall flat thanks to penalties.
Two interceptions of Patrick Mahomes were wiped out by penalties and officials ruled that cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. failed to corral a third pick before it hit the ground. The Chargers also uncharacteristically opted for a field goal and a pair of punts on fourth downs in Chiefs territory, which led running back Austin Ekeler to make a fairly rudimentary assessment of how the game wound up going the Chiefs’ way despite the Chargers gaining more yards and holding the ball for more time.
“It comes down to who makes the least amount of mistakes and who makes more plays,” Ekeler said, via Daniel Popper of TheAthletic.com. “We didn’t make enough, and we made more mistakes, obviously. That’s the NFL for you.”
The Chargers will get another shot at the Chiefs later this season and they’ll hope to play a cleaner game that ends with them on top of the final score.